Page 50 of Painted

Rhys laughed. “Titanicstole that scene from a thousand actual moments between artists and their models throughout hundreds of years.”

“And with good reason,” Early said.

Rhys peeked at them. Early grinned back. Their body had a flush to it that was unmistakably arousal. It wasn’t just the flush that hinted they were turned on either.

Early must have seen where his eyes wandered. They squirmed a little, and their smile faltered.

It took a few more minutes before they said, “I’m sorry I’m not much to look at.”

Rhys raised his eyes from his painting and frowned. “What do you mean? You’re beautiful.”

An embarrassed grin played across Early’s face before they lost their smile again. “I’ve…I’ve always been self-conscious about having…a small penis.”

Rhys blinked, no idea what Early was talking about. “What do you mean?” he asked, dabbing his brush in the paint again and trying to focus on his work so Early didn’t get nervous.

“I’m not that big,” Early said, like they were admitting something.

Rhys glanced up again with a frown. “What makes you say that? You’re fine. I’d say average, but that word makes it sound like you’re not special. You’re definitely special.”

Early sucked in a breath. “I’m smaller than any of the pictures I’ve seen,” they said.

Rhys stopped everything he was doing to stare at Early’s eyes. “Are you comparing yourself to porn?” he asked.

Early didn’t answer. At least, not with words. The bright pink on their cheeks said everything.

Rhys set his canvas aside and shifted from his chair to sit on the sofa by Early’s side.

“This might be a weird question, but have you ever seen a guy naked in person before?” he asked.

“I always hated changing around the other guys in school,” Early said, going out of his way to avoid Rhys’s glance. “I was so skinny and pale growing up, and it only took one of the otherboys making fun of me once to have me changing where no one could see me for the rest of my pitiful school athletics career.”

“Which meant you never saw any of them naked either.”

Early shook their head. “I guess one of the disadvantages of being raised by conservative parents who don’t agree with your life choices is that you end up with a lot of gaps in your knowledge. My family isn’t like your family at all. I didn’t even know where to start learning about sex.” They paused, then added, “You must think I’m pathetic and naïve.”

Rhys slipped a hand under their chin and tilted it up so Early was forced to meet his eyes. “You’re beautiful and amazing,” he said, smiling. “And average. Nothing you see in online porn is even remotely realistic, so get that out of your head right now.”

“Now I feel stupid,” Early whispered, trying to avoid Rhys’s eyes again.

“Hey, none of that,” Rhys said softly.

He rubbed his thumb over Early’s bottom lip, which ended up being way sexier than he anticipated. Both of them lost their breath for a moment.

“Tell me what you like about your body,” Rhys asked a beat later.

Early blinked at him. “What?”

“Your body. Tell me what you like about it. And you can’t convince me the answer to that is ‘nothing’. No one who hates their body agrees on the spur of the moment to pose nude for an art class.”

Early smiled the most alluring, bashful smile Rhys had ever seen. “You’re going to laugh at me,” they said.

“Only if it’s appropriate,” Rhys promised.

Early drew in a breath then glanced up at him. “Okay,” they said. “I like my belly button.”

Rhys burst into a smile. “Your belly button?”

“Yeah. It’s silly, but I like it.” Early smiled at him in return. “I’ve always wanted to wear crop tops because of it.”

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